Cowboys, Redskins, Matt Schaub highlight Texans’ 2014 schedule

Primetime games against the Indianapolis Colts and Pittsburgh Steelers are at the center of the Texans’ 2014 regular-season schedule.

The Texans will open the Bill O’Brien-era Week 1 at home against Robert Griffin III’s Washington Redskins on Sept. 7.

The Texans then travel to Oakland to face former starting quarterback Matt Schaub on Sept. 14, while ex-coach Gary Kubiak returns to Houston on Dec. 21 when the Texans host the Baltimore Ravens.

“We’ve been here almost four months, so the schedule is always in the back of our minds,” O’Brien said in a press release. “We’ve been evaluating our roster, working with our players, getting ready for the draft. But I think when we go home at night, we’re always waiting to see what that schedule is going to be. It’s a very exciting time of the year for us and obviously for our fans. We’re looking forward to playing that schedule.”

The Texans only have two primetime games: Oct. 9 against the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday Night Football and Oct. 20 at the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football.

“Any time you play primetime, it means a lot to our players. It’s an exciting time. They know it’s a national audience,” O’Brien said. “For us as coaches, I think it works out fairly well because it’s a home game and then a little bit of time between traveling to go to Pittsburgh. Again, for our players, it’s a great opportunity. For us as coaches, we look at it as giving us a little bit of extra time to prepare.”

The Texans face Tony Romo’s Dallas Cowboys Oct. 5 in Arlington.

“I think it’s great. I think Texas is such a great football state,” O’Brien said. “The city of Houston is a football city and any time you have the two pro teams in the state of Texas playing each other, that’s a fantastic thing for the National Football League and great for both fan bases. It’s an exciting time for both teams.”

A team that finished an NFL-worst 2-14 last season closes out its 2014 campaign Dec. 28 at home against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Texans’ bye week comes in Week 10 after hosting the Philadelphia Eagles on Nov. 2.

Outside of their standard AFC South opponents, the Texans will face the NFC East and AFC North this season.

“Obviously the (AFC South) is a very tough division,” O’Brien said. “Every time we go against our division opponents, it’s going to be a grind. What’s good about that is that we’re able to finish up at home against the division. Any time that you can play at home, that’s a great thing for your players, your fans and obviously for our coaching staff. So we’re looking forward to that.”

The Texans, who hold the No. 1 overall pick in the May draft, have one of the easiest schedules in the league after a disastrous 2013. Their 2014 opponents held just a .441 winning percentage, which ranks as the third softest schedule in the NFL.

The Texans opened the 2013 season on Monday Night Football and were on primetime three other times.

Texans’ 2014 regular-season schedule:

REGULAR SEASON

Day

Date

Opponent

TV Network

Kickoff Time

Sunday

Sept. 7

WASHINGTON REDSKINS

FOX

Noon

Sunday

Sept. 14

at Oakland Raiders

CBS

3:25 p.m.

Sunday

Sept. 21

at New York Giants

CBS

Noon

Sunday

Sept. 28

BUFFALO BILLS

CBS

Noon

Sunday

Oct. 5

at Dallas Cowboys

CBS

Noon

Thursday

Oct. 9

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS#

CBS

7:25 p.m.

Monday

Oct. 20

at Pittsburgh Steelers#

ESPN

7:30 p.m.

Sunday

Oct. 26

at Tennessee Titans

CBS

Noon

Sunday

Nov. 2

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

FOX

Noon

Sunday

Nov. 9

BYE WEEK

Sunday

Nov. 16

at Cleveland Browns

CBS

Noon

Sunday

Nov. 23

CINCINNATI BENGALS

CBS

Noon

Sunday

Nov. 30

TENNESSEE TITANS

CBS

Noon

Sunday

Dec. 7

at Jacksonville Jaguars

CBS

Noon

Sunday

Dec. 14

at Indianapolis Colts

CBS

Noon

Sunday

Dec. 21

BALTIMORE RAVENS

CBS

Noon

Sunday

Dec. 28

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

CBS

Noon

Italic indicates games subject to flex scheduling. See the note below.

All kickoff times Central; # – Televised Nationally; Home Games in BOLD

All games are broadcasted live on Texans Radio on 610 AM and 100.3The Bull

FLEXIBLE SCHEDULING

· For the first time, flexible scheduling may be applied in Weeks 5-10. During that period, flexible scheduling can be used in no more than two weeks by shifting a Sunday afternoon game into primetime and moving the Sunday night game to an afternoon start time.

· Also, for the first time, a select number of games are being “cross-flexed,” moving between CBS and FOX to bring potentially under-distributed games to wider audiences.

· “Flexible scheduling” will be used in Weeks 11-17 as it has been in recent years. In Weeks 11-16, the schedule lists the games tentatively set for Sunday Night Football on NBC. Only Sunday afternoon games are eligible to be moved to Sunday night, in which case the tentatively scheduled Sunday night game would be moved to an afternoon start time. Flexible scheduling will not be applied to games airing on Thursday, Saturday or Monday nights. A flexible scheduling move would be announced at least 12 days before the game. For Week 17, the Sunday night game will be announced no later than six days prior to December 28. The schedule does not list a Sunday night game in Week 17, but an afternoon game with playoff implications will be moved to that time slot. Flexible scheduling ensures quality matchups in all Sunday time slots in those weeks and gives “surprise” teams a chance to play their way into primetime.

PRESEASON

Day

Date

Opponent

TV Network

Kickoff Time

Saturday

Aug. 9

at Arizona Cardinals

KTRK-TV

7:30 p.m.

Saturday

Aug. 16

ATLANTA FALCONS

KTRK-TV

7:00 p.m.

Saturday

Aug. 23

at Denver Broncos

KTRK-TV

8:00 p.m.

Thursday

Aug. 28

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

KTRK-TV

7:00 p.m.

Regular-season schedule notes:

Houston will face two of the top 10 scoring defenses from 2013: Cincinnati (tied for fifth, 19.1 points per game) and Indianapolis (ninth, 21.0).

The Texans also face three of the top 10 scoring offenses from 2013 in Philadelphia (fourth, 27.6 points per game), Dallas (fifth, 27.4) and Cincinnati (tied for sixth, 26.9).

Houston will be looking for its first ever road wins at Dallas (0-1), New York Giants (0-1) and Indianapolis (0-12), its first win ever against Philadelphia (0-3) and first home win against Washington (0-1).

The Texans will play four games against teams that made the playoffs in 2013, including two games against defending AFC South champion Indianapolis Colts (11-5). The Texans also face NFC East champion Philadelphia (10-6) and AFC North champion Cincinnati (11-5) at home.

Houston will play five games against teams holding top-10 picks in the 2014 NFL Draft, including two against Jacksonville (third overall) and one game each against Cleveland (fourth), Oakland (fifth) and Buffalo (ninth).

Houston plays four games against teams with new head coaches: two games against division rival Tennessee (Ken Whisenhunt), and one each against Cleveland (Mike Pettine) and Washington (Jay Gruden).

Houston’s season opener against Washington will also be Redskins’ head coach Jay Gruden’s head coaching debut. The Texans also opened the season against rookie head coaches Mike McCoy (at San Diego, 2013), Joe Philbin (Miami, 2012) and Rex Ryan (New York Jets, 2009).